At the Ventnor Town Council meeting on Monday night, we were joined by Stuart Love, Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services and Malcolm Smith from Engineering Services.
We’d like to start by saying that they should be congratulated for staying for the entirety of the meeting, especially after they were given a chance to leave once their slot was over.
The reason for their presence at the meeting was to discuss the future of Undercliff Drive with the Councillors – but more on that later.
A public question was raised at the beginning of the meeting about forthcoming road closures in Ventnor.
Stuart Love was happy to step in straight away and confirmed that resurfacing works would take place on the Whitwell Road starting 4 August and due to be completed by 5 September.
Mr Love confirmed that coaches, buses and heavy goods vehicles travelling from Shanklin to the west (and vice versa), would be diverted via Godshill, bypassing Ventnor completely.
There was great concern voiced by the councillors about these works taking place during the busiest time of the year for Ventnor and worry that businesses would be affected.
Mr Love explained that it was impossible for works to take place without causing disruption and that the holidays were chosen to avoid travel chaos for school children during term time. If the works were left too late, winter would be upon us again and possible bad weather would cause more delays.
There is a big worry that tourists will follow the diversion signs intended for heavy goods vehicles and that coaches will bypass Ventnor completely over the summer holidays.
Ordnance Survey Mapping ©Crown Copyright AM114/07
